Submitting this for approval. I'll go over and check for any poorly worded sections or bits I'm unhappy with when I look at it tomorrow, but I think he is more or less finished.
Sir Tamlorn “Tam” Winter-Rose
Sir Tamlorn “Tam” Winter-Rose
Age: 28
Physical Description: Waves of messy blond hair fall to his shoulders, like seas of midsummer wheat and beaten gold. Beneath dark brows, the calm pools of his eyes, deep eyes, eyes the dark green found in the shade of a forest when the promise of autumn is whispered every night, drink in the world. His face wears the words “handsome” and “pretty” with equal comfort; it is slender and cleanshaven, his skin pale and smooth like a river stone, and angles of nose, cheek, and jaw cut shadows like a sculpture cuts marble. His lips are pink and full.
Tam’s frame is a willow switch, strong and sleek. Its motion is smooth and flowing, like the rolling of a sycamore seed, the licking tongue of fire, or the swell of the deep, wide ocean, each hiding power greater than their beauty.
He has all manner of fine clothes, preferring boots suited to riding and fashion with loose, trailing sleeves.
Important items: Spear (Enchanted)A shaft of dark wood, Tam’s height and half more, riddled with runes of burnished silver and iron, and tipped with a stout metal point, meant for piercing. Bolts of blue and green silk are tied to just beneath the point. It can extend to a maximum of three times its length, or shrink to one third of that, at the wielder’s will. The runes also imbue the shaft with increase durability.
Sword (Enchanted)A slender blade to slash and cut. Running along its length are also runes; these are a minor enchantment of added strength. The pommel is brass, folded into the petals of a rose, the grip a rich crimson.
Rose broachA gift from his mother and sister, he wears it usually on his neck or collar. It is in the likeness of a rose, stark white ivory and bone and pearl, with a golden pin and clasp.
Mithril MailA small shirt of mithral, with fine links to make it far more comfortable, that can be worn under or over clothing, adds a certain level of protection to vital areas.
Minstrel (A horse)A pure white stallion, proud with the fire of purebred blood than runs through it.
Short Bio: Tam is the middle of the three children of the noble Winter-Rose family, a family loyal to Karl Maximillian XV Schwanhueter. His brother, Richmond, and father, Erik, are much the same man; proud like the sun at noon with tempers painted by greed and hate, like black stones in their hearts. Lileana, Tam's mother, is soft and gentle, like fresh-fallen powder snow or the silent breaths of a sleeping babe. She was a nurturing soul, and shaped Tam into the man he would become, extinguishing his anger and planting the seed that would grow into mindfulness and compassion, as she failed to with Richmond. That would take time though, and she would succumb to a draining illness before she saw the fruits of her parenting. This was not before Hope was born, his young sister, mirroring her mother like a pool mirrors the moon. With Lileana’s passing, the ice on Erik’s heart turned to stone, and the three children's lives were dictated for them like that of the slaves they owned, and Tam was the only line of defence between his father and Hope. Perhaps then, that is why the two youngest are far closer.
After proving himself during melee tournaments and on the field of battle, Tam was knighted before his twentieth summer. He was widely considered one of the most promising swordsmen in decades. Pride swelled in him dangerously at this age, and his bravado took him all over the noble circuit. It did not always win him friends.
It was not until he had a fateful encounter with a farmer that things changed. Angered and with wounded pride that the farmer in the middle of nowhere would refuse his offer to buy a lamb to slaughter, he challenged the farmer to a duel. He used his sword, and the farmer used only a staff. And he lost. The champion of tournaments and knight of the Empire lost to simple man with a stick.
He pleaded to find out how this was so, and after weeks of slopping pigs and ploughing fields, the farmer relented, and taught Tam everything he knew. When Tam was humble, and could learn no more, the farmer directed him to his teacher. There, at a small house by the sea, Tam learnt the magic to flow like water, and to let his weapons and body act as one and flow with the same smoothness and adaptability of that water. The polearm and sword were merged into a single school. When he could learn no more here, he was directed to another teacher. The man knew much magic, and the secrets of the strength of the mind, and even more of the techniques Tam was chasing, and he was as old and gnarled as the oak he taught under. The spells to summon floating weapons of condensed mana and to summon light to blind his opponents was revealed to him here. So too, he began to master his body and mind. He learnt the importance of the present moment, of how to enter meditation in movement, and of the secrets you could hear if you could still your mind to silence. Finally, the flower of virtues his mother had planted so long ago could fully blossom. Yet, he left here before he learnt everything, for he received word his sister had fallen ill, and he was many months travel away. On the days back he met many beasts, bandits and turns of ill-fortune, but overcame them, for he loved his sister more than the sun that chased the moon eternally.
For the first time in seven years he stepped back into Venedig. He was not completely behind on current affairs; for he had danced alone wearing his family’s name at many noble gatherings across the land, and knew of the rebellions, and the excited gossip they drew.
It was on his third day back that he decided to visit the auctions. If you asked, he wouldn’t be entirely sure why he went; certainly, the rumours had not escaped his ears, and the family house was beginning to feel like a dungeon, but there was something more. It was a furtive fear, almost, of what he would think of the place; a fear that something so natural as slavery would disgust him, for when he thought of it, he felt sickened.
So, he went, to the auction of the traitors.
Starting Faction: Winter-Rose – a small noble family loyal to the Empire of the Reich des Goldenen Grahles
Spell List: Water Form – the user’s body turns to water, taking any form, bounded by the volume and density of the water, with control of motion. It is separate from the natural form, and deleterious effects experienced in either a unique to the specific form, but both are persistent (i.e. switching to from natural to water form and back to natural will not removed any injuries the natural form has sustained, and the water form will not share those).
Dancing Swords – By concentrating for
10/5/2 seconds the user may summon
1/3/7 sword(s) of shimmering-blue condensed mana to orbit the user, acting within a
5/10/20 ft radius. They move at the will of the user, at roughly the speed they would be able to swing a similar, mundane version of the weapons.
Flash Blind – a flash of light is created, originating from any part of the user’s body, or object they have had physical contact with within the last few seconds. It is bright enough to temporarily blind anyone who can see it.
Exceptional Skill List: School of the Singing Sword and Flowing Pole (Ex. Swordsmanship, Ex. Polearm and staff mastery, Ex. Acrobatics)Tam’s personal martial school – a seemingly piecemeal combination of all the teaching he has received, particularly that from the last three of his teachers, and extrapolation based on experimentation and practice on Tam’s part.
